Overcoming the Racial Divide
June 2014
Voiceover
00:00
This is The Beat, a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing
topics facing our nation.
Katherine McQuay
00:08
With us today is Chief Hassan Aden from Greenville’s Police Department in Greenville, North Carolina.
Chief Aden joined the department in November 2012. One of the issues he addressed early on was
this idea of police legitimacy. Chief, can you tell us what your thinking was and what your approach was
in that area?
Chief Hassan Aden
00:29
Yes. First, thanks for having me. When I first joined the police department, prior to accepting the
position I had done a lot of research. That research led me to a couple of different areas that I needed
to learn more about. There were several studies I looked at that indicated that there may have been
some legitimacy issue with some of the various communities that the police department is responsible
for policing. A lot of the issues were divided racially. I needed to look at that a little closer, so I did.
One of the ways that I wanted to address those issues and make sure that, moving forward, we were
an inclusive police department, and considered everyone’s view and opinion, and also pulled some
communities that were not at the table—they were not engaged for whatever reason; we brought
them to the table. We decided to do a strategic planning process that involved major stakeholders:
NAACP, SCLC, East Carolina University, Vidant Health, all of the major, major players in the business
community and a lot of the neighborhood groups. So quite frankly, they were a little bit shocked when
we invited them. Literally, I had people call me back and ask me what this was all about. They had
really never been at the table, and it’s rare, I think, in American policing to have that, or in any policing,
to have people at a table to really work through strengths, weaknesses, and focusing on key areas and
key activities that the police department is going to be undertaking. And ours was a three-year
strategic plan. So over the next three years, which is a significant time.
The other really neat aspect of this was we also developed a new mission statement. I looked at our
mission statement at the time, and no one could really tell me how it was developed, or who
developed it, or what it really meant. So we developed a new mission statement with the
stakeholders. It may not have been exactly what I would have written. But it was absolutely on point,
and better than that, it was meaningful. It meant something to everyone that participated.
Katherine
02:33
And why did you think it was so important to do it this way, to bring in those external stakeholders?
Hassan
02:38
You know, I think that when you look at community policing and when you look at police legitimacy,
we’ve come a long way. But I really feel as though we have missed the opportunity to have the
community determine how the police is going to police them. This was really a way to strip down all
the barriers and have conversations. Literally, we had police officers, citizens, representatives from
these organizations all sitting at small tables, respectfully talking about what irks them, what pushes
their buttons, or what services they need that they’re not getting. At the end of the day, there were a
lot of smiles and relationships that were repaired or forged that weren’t there when we walked into
that room.
Katherine
03:29
Was there any resistance from within the department: why are we bringing in external folks in to do
our own strategic plan?
Hassan
03:37
There was no resistance. There were concerns raised, respectfully. I think that most people knew;
they had figured me out by that point, and they knew that I meant what I stated, which is that we are
going to be a community oriented police department. In doing so, I was unchallenged. But there were
questions, and I was able to answer those questions, and I think we had strong buy in. Certainly, by
the time we came out of there, very strong buy in. I hear officers talking about this. They all have
copies of our strategic plan and extra copies, and they hand those out to community members.
They’re proud of it. And they should be proud of it.
Katherine
04:20
As part of the effort toward police legitimacy, we’ve heard, not many, but just a few police chiefs who
have apologized to the community for past actions of the police department. Are you one of those
chiefs?
Hassan
04:34
I am. And I apologize in a general sense for the way policing has treated people or mistreated people
and not specifically the Greenville Police Department. I’m from the Alexandria Police Department
through and through until I retired last November. Even there, it’s a general statement about
American policing. I’m not ashamed to have apologized for that and to tell people it’s a new time. And
there’s a new way of thinking. There’s a whole crew of police chiefs that are coming up that think this
way and act this way, which is actually more important.
Katherine
05:08
And why did you think it was important to do that?
Hassan
05:11
I wanted to let people know where I was and to let the public know that whatever has happened in
the past, in the city of Greenville, this is not that. This is a new police department that’s innovative,
cares about its community, and cares about itself. Those are important things. If you don’t care about
the community and you don’t care about your police department, you might as well not exist.
Katherine
05:36
And what was the reaction?
Hassan
05:38
It was appreciated. There was some shock from some of the groups, particularly the NAACP. They did
not have a very good relationship. We now have an excellent relationship. The complaints still come in.
We handle them professionally, but we are in the room talking. We are partners in making sure we
deal with and address the issues they that bring up.
Katherine
06:03
So you have made a lot of big steps in your first months as the new chief. Any advice to other new
chiefs?
Hassan
06:10
Learn your community. Make sure that you take the time to really explain what you’re doing and why
you’re doing it. I think that’s important because the police department has a culture, the communities
that you serve have cultures, and the government that you’re going to be working in has culture. Then
there’s a bunch of subcultures within those. So you have to make sure that you learn those first and
that you tread lightly but decisively, and you’ll be successful.
Katherine
06:42
And would you say, with regards to the community, would you say the same with regard to the
department when you’re a new chief?
Hassan
06:48
Absolutely. You have to be respectful. And you have to take the time to show them that you care
about where they’ve been and that you care about explaining where you all might be going together.
Katherine
06:59
Well it sounds like you’re off to a great start. Good luck, and thank you for joining us.
Hassan
07:03
Thank you.
Voiceover: Beat Exit
07:04
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Voiceover: Disclaimer
07:20
The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official
position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies,
products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S.
Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.